A Hero

Story: A man out on leave from jail tries to make amends by paying off his creditor so he can stay out. But when his lender refuses to accept part payment, he comes up with a plan that goes horribly wrong.

Review: Rahim Soltani (Amir Jadidi) is a character that isn’t very easy to comprehend but from the very first scene one can see that he is a man wronged by his circumstances. This is a quintessential Asghar Farhadi hero – an ordinary man in a seemingly ordinary situation that has the potential to go out of hand very soon. And that is the beautiful essence of Farhadi’s narrative, which always keeps us on the edge because it’s so relatable. Here’s a man, who is trying so hard to make amends and not go back to jail. He wants to be with his speech-impaired son and he only has a two-day breather to figure out a quick fix solution. His sister’s family is standing by him and so is the love of his life. Together, they come up with a plan, which has its own demerits, but if it works then Rahim can have a regular peaceful life. But whatever can go wrong, does.

Farhadi’s story has the kind of regular thrill we often see in our daily lives and nothing seems out of place or too preposterous. It’s the kind of thing we can identify with as it gets us easily involved in Rahim’s choices (or the lack of it), his moral dilemmas and that of his creditor Bahram (Mohsen Tanabandeh). There’s a constant tussle that plays out on the screen and in our minds too.

Marked by restrained and believable performances, ‘A Hero’ scores on its simplicity and realism like most Farhadi’s films. He uses the backdrop of Shiraz – a busy Iranian city and the modest routine life of his characters to tell his story more effectively.

Amir Jadidi brings out Rahim’s struggle in his own way, making it relatable. He makes it easy for us to root for Rahim. Among the rest of the cast, Mohsen Tanabandeh stands out as a man, who is made out to be a villain, but is fighting his own battles. Sahar Goldust and Maryam Shahdaei deliver satisfactory performances as Rahim’s sister Mali and lady love Farkhondeh, respectively - the two women, who stand by him against all odds. Child actor Saleh Karimaei makes Siavash’s speech struggle very believable.

This is yet another niche film from Academy Award winning filmmaker Asghar Farhadi. It’s a thought-provoking and unfiltered mirror of complex moralities in a modern society that still lives under the constant fear of losing honour and being judged. It shows the hopeless truth of how perceptions play an important role in eclipsing our realities.